We make crêpes all year round. They are fancy enough for a celebration yet simple enough for everyday. So, when a friend let us know he was coming into and and asked if we wanted to meet him and his daughter for breakfast, I offered up Camilla's Crêperie. This post is also being shared for my online book group Lit Happen. Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures assigned us It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover.
LEARN THIS PROCESS! Crêpes are the ultimate blank canvas for both sweets and savory! Within my own household, it's usually three sweet to one savory...at least for brunch. I just heard that my older son made savory crêpes for his housemates on his assigned dinner night. He gave them fresh mozzarella, pancetta, and sautéed spinach with garlic. BE CREATIVE...COOK FEARLESSLY!
On the Page
I initially tried to put a hold on the book at the library, but found that I was on a waiting list and it was about 5 weeks out. Since this book group is only for month of March, I ordered a paperback copy from Amazon. It arrived, I cracked the cover, and I finished it before I went to bed. The same day! It's a quick read that really surprised me. I thought I was getting into a book version of a rom-com. This novel tackled some rather serious issues: domestic abuse, marital rape, and more. But it held my interest and I didn't put it down until I was done.
It Ends With Us was a web of opposites. While reading it, my emotions were hot and cold, up and down. It was a beautiful and ugly story at the same time.
For her entire childhood, in Maine, Lily witnessed her father brutalize her mother. He was never abusive towards his daughter, but she knew he was a bastard. He beat her first boyfriend, Atlas, with a baseball bat after finding them together in her room. And when he died, she started her eulogy, but refused to say anything good about him, so she just left.
Flash forward to after college and a completely different state, Lily meets the confident, charismatic Ryle, a handsome neurosurgeon. I fell for him as Lily was falling for him!
If you plan to read this book, you might want to stop reading my post here. Get ready for some spoilers. You've been warned.
I was so angry when their marriage turned toxic. She and Ryle landed in the same cycle of abuse and hearts and flowers as her parents had been. But with the help of her first love - who happens to also live in Boston - she escapes...and survives!
Lily was a great character who did something many, many women don't: she walked away. But she had support which is something that abused women often don't have. Lily's best friend was also her husband's sister. Alyssa said, "'As his sister, I wish more than anything that you could find a way to forgive him. But as your best friend, I have to tell you that if you take him back, I will never speak to you again'" (pg. 315).
Then she had Atlas. He came when she called. He let her hide in his apartment. And he fed her. Well, he is a chef, a vocation for people whose love language is to feed others. That leads me to this...
On the Plate
After Atlas gets Lily's text, picks her up, and takes her to the hospital, she spends the night in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up and smells breakfast.
"'I hope you're hungry.' ...'I am.' ...A few minutes later, Atlas sets a plate down in front of me, then claims the seat across from me at the tale. He pulls his own plate of food in front of him and cuts into a crêpe with his fork. I look down at my plate. Three crêpes, drizzled in syrup and garnished with a dab of whipped cream. Orange and strawberry slices line the right side of the plate" (pg. 277).
An Atlas-Style Breakfast at Camilla's Crêperie, I opted for lemon and brown sugar, a Scandinavian favorite; macerated berries with whipped cream; and nutella and banana with a chocolate drizzle.
I have been making this recipe for years. We even made a YouTube video of the process on the CulinaryCam channel. Watch it here.
Ingredients
makes approximately one dozen
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups organic whole milk
dash of ground cardamom
butter, for cooking
For serving: jam, unsweetened whipped cream, lemon wedges, Nutella, cheese (for any savory lovers!)
Procedure
Whisk all of the ingredients together until lump-free. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Heat a large flat-bottom pan and rub the bottom with butter. Pour the batter into the pan and quickly make a tilting motion to distribute the batter all over the pan. The goal: have as thin a batter layer as possible. Cook until the crêpe is a bit stiff and flip over, cooking for another minute The pancake should be lightly browned on both sides. Repeat till all the batter is used; I made 12 crêpes with the quantities listed above.
Let everyone assemble their own crêpes.
In addition to sharing this with our Lit Happens group, I am also adding this post to the March 2023 #FoodieReads link-up, here.